Spore works with SETI in an 'art imitates life' moment

While it's not surprising that Will Wright's half-a-decade-in-the-making opus, Spore, is based on real scientific research, it's at least revealing that he was working closely with the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Institute. How this research plays into the game is probably just theoretical, since SETI hasn't found any evidence of E.T. since its inception nearly 50 years ago -- but it's a big universe, so I'll cut 'em some slack. And, just because it's another piece of Will Wright-inspired action (and worth another watch), here's the "Powers of 10" video that got stuck in his head, forcing him to realize his "Sim Everything" dream.

Here's a quick pictorial of my creature's evolution through the eons, from puttering around with its overworked flagella, to puttering around with a submarine propeller. I'm deep into the Civilization stage, but have quite a planet to crush before advancing to Spacefaring. The wife was present for the paramecium stage of life (she named it "Spiky Poof") and up through its first tentative steps on land (where it became "Ducky Poof"). She then dug back into her novel when she felt that "The evolutionary options were growing a bit too complicated." Reminds me of when The Killers said "When I offer you survival, you say it's hard enough to live."

ART IMITATES LIFE:

LONG-AWAITED SPORE VIDEO GAME

BASED ON REAL SCIENTIFIC SEARCH

Electronic Arts’ Newest Release Based On SETI’s Search For Extraterrestrial Life

Electronic Arts’ eagerly awaited video game, Spore,which was released yesterday, is based on serious scientific research that is out of this world. Literally. The game, which incubated for five years in the studios of the world’s leading developer of video games, takes much of its inspiration from the real-world research of the SETI Institute, an organization dedicated to the deep scientific understanding of life in all its forms on Earth and to exploration of the cosmos for evidence of life, especially intelligent life.

In partnership with EA, the SETI Institute is giving gamers a special opportunity to join its membership organization, TeamSETI, at reduced cost. The Institute also plans to augment its web site (www.seti.org) so members will be able to access interactive activities, get special updates on the Institute’s research (as it applies to the scenarios found in Spore), and read game-related blogs by scientists Frank Drake, director of the SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center for the study of life in the Universe, Jill Tarter, Center director for SETI research, and many of the Institute’s other scientists.

Spore is the latest brainchild of Will Wright, who once wished to become an astronaut and is best known for designing the hit video simulation games “Sim City” and “The Sims.” Wright notes, “I’ve long been interested in the work of the SETI Institute because the people there are trying to find real alien life using massive telescopes and other tools of science. Microbes on Mars or intelligent beings on a distant planet – they’re investigating it all.”

Spore allows players to create cosmic life ranging from microbes to complex sentients, and have them form social groups and even reshape galaxies. The Creature Creator, a Spore software tool that’s already available, allows anyone to quickly design their own “aliens” for use in Spore, starting with a basic body form and adding appendages, facial features, and various skin textures and colors.

Even serious scientists can quickly become enamored of this interactive Mr. Alien Potato Head:

“I’ve been searching the skies for signs of intelligent life for more than four decades,” said Frank Drake, Senior Scientist at the SETI Institute and the man who pioneered the use of large radio telescopes to hunt for signals from other societies. “I’ve often given thought to what aliens might be like. Well, this is the first time I could quickly bring to life a hypothetical extraterrestrial, even if only on my computer screen.”

The SETI Institute’s flagship search for intelligent beings elsewhere is about to gain an impressive boost as the first antennas of the Allen Telescope Array – a massive radio instrument located in the Cascade Mountains of California – are used to hunt for signals coming from the dense star clouds that lie in the central regions of the Milky Way. Eventually, the Allen Telescope Array will speed SETI experiments by hundreds and thousands of times. Updates will be ported to Spore TeamSETI members regularly.

“Young people study science because they’ve become emotionally involved,” notes Drake. “Many of my colleagues point to movies or sci-fi novels that first spurred their interest. Well, tomorrow’s generation of scientists could very well get their start today playing games like Spore.”

THE SETI INSTITUTE IS A NON-PROFIT SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO RESEARCH, EXPLORATION, AND EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF ASTROBIOLOGY.